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‘I Can Speak From Personal Experience’: Just Two Weeks Ago Pence Called for Special Counsel for Biden Classified Docs

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It was just two weeks ago that former Vice President Mike Pence was demanding a special counsel be appointed to look into President Joe Biden‘s handling of classified documents, after a small number had been found in an office at the Penn-Biden Center. Now some are calling for DOJ to appoint a special counsel to investigate the former Trump vice president’s handling of classified documents, after CNN reported Tuesday on the dozen or so classified documents that were found in Pence’s Indiana home and turned over to the FBI and the National Archives.

Pence, who is expected to launch a 2024 presidential run, had taken to the right-wing media talk circuit, demanding “equal treatment” by the U.S. Dept. of Justice for President Biden, after Attorney General Merrick Garland had appointed a special counsel in November to investigate ex-president Donald Trump’s possibly criminal handling of classified documents.

Attorney General Garland ultimately, and exceptionally quickly, did appoint a special counsel to look into Biden’s classified documents handling, leading Pence to say he had been “deeply troubled” before that happened.

READ MORE: Watch: Top Trump Ally Lindsey Graham Defends Biden In Classified Docs Probe

“Look, there’s equal treatment in the law [that] is at the very center of the expectation of the American people,” Pence, calling for a special counsel to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents, had told right wing personality Hugh Hewitt exactly two weeks ago, on January 10.

He also blasted the Biden administration for the DOJ executing a search warrant on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, last summer. And he criticized the media for what he wrongly called “turning a deaf ear” to the Biden classified documents issue, which is false.

“Well, as I said last summer when the home of a former president of the United States, you know, was raided by FBI agents, I was deeply troubled by that action at the time. And this double standard is just as troubling. You know, there’s that old saying that if they didn’t have double standards, they’d have no standards at all,” Pence told Hewitt, despite there being no double standard.

“And Hugh, this is, whether it be the administration or whether it be the media papering over this, look, it was a massive overreach by the FBI, a massive overreaction this summer to execute a search warrant at the personal residence of a former president of the United States, and I said so. But having now created that standard and now abandoned that standard when the current president of the United States is found to have had classified documents in his possession after leaving office, I think it just, I have no words right now. It’s just incredibly frustrating to me.”

READ MORE: ‘Marxists, Communists, Racists, and RINOS’: Trump Melts Down Hours Before Judge Will Rule on Releasing Grand Jury Report

He also continued to berate the Biden administration and the media.

“You know, the reality is that now they’ve, you know, what they have unleashed now has the threat of coming back on them,” he said of the Biden administration, for allowing DOJ to execute the Mar-a-Lago search warrant. “But the willingness of the national media to just turn away and turn a deaf ear to the Biden, to the disclosures that when Vice President Biden left office, he left with classified documents as well, it just shows you, it’s like I said before. If they didn’t have double standards, they’d have no standards at all.”

Pence has repeatedly denied having any classified documents, which we now know was false.

Pence wasn’t done attacking President Biden.

Two days later, on Jan. 12,  he went on Fox News Business, using nearly the same language, telling former Trump White House official Larry Kudlow that “equal treatment under the law is at the very center of American jurisprudence,” and applauding the decision to appoint a special counsel to look into the Biden classified documents.

“And earlier this week, I called for that. I welcome the decision by Attorney General Garland, who will appoint a special counsel. If we have a special counsel reviewing classified materials that were found at Mar-a-Lago, we need to have a special counsel in this case, and that’s progress.”

Pence said he could “speak from personal experience” about the importance of properly handling classified documents.

“The handling of classified materials, and the nation’s secrets is very serious matter. And as a former Vice President of the United States I can speak from personal experience but the attention that ought to be paid to those materials when you’re in office, and after you leave office. And clearly, that did not take place in this case.”

The difference between the Biden classified documents issue and the Trump classified documents case is huge.

President Biden reported all classified documents found to DOJ and the National Archives and had then sent to NARA immediately.

Trump reportedly had classified documents and thousands of other items belonging to the federal government shipped from the White House to his residence and resort in Florida, Mar-a-Lago, and according to several former officials, helped pack some of the boxes himself.

READ MORE: DeSantis: One of the Reasons I Banned Black History Course Is It Includes ‘Indoctrination’ on ‘Queer Theory’ (Video)

He then spent over a year lying about what he had at Mar-a-Lago, and repeatedly refused to return the stolen items.

Some experts say a special counsel should be appointed for Pence’s handling of classified documents.

Law professor, MSNBC legal contributor, and former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance says, “No reason to treat Pence differently” from President Biden.

National security attorney Mark S. Zaid says Pence should allow the FBI “to voluntarily search his offices & residence for additional classified docs.”

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Trump Desperate to Keep Any Possible Criminal Evidence From Supreme Court: Legal Expert

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Donald Trump’s decision to allow one of his lawyers to speak before a grand jury on Friday morning, instead of appealing all the way to the Supreme Court, may have been made out of fear of what the justices on the nation’s highest court might see if they reviewed the case.

According to MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin, under normal circumstances, the former president would have dragged out a legal fight over attorney-client privilege that would have kept attorney Evan Corcoran from testifying under oath about Trump’s possession of government documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort that led to the FBI showing up with a warrant.

As Rubin notes, the fact that Trump let Corcoran testify over three hours raised eyebrows.

“For one, yes, it is indeed unusual, if not unheard of, for a lawyer to be litigating against a party one day and then testifying under court-ordered examination by that same party the next one,” she wrote before suggesting Trump and his legal team were looking at the long game when he might need the predominantly conservative Supreme Court to lend him a helping hand.

RELATED: Revealed: Emails show how Trump lawyers drove Michael Cohen to turn on the president

Writing, “Trump has made clear he believes this Supreme Court — controlled by conservative justices, three of whom he appointed — owes him one,” she added, “My hunch is that Trump’s team let Corcoran’s testimony happen because of what’s likely involved in any request to pause, much less, review a crime-fraud-related ruling: the evidence.”

“Put another way, if Trump had petitioned the Supreme Court to stay Corcoran’s testimony and document production, the justices would have seen some, if not all, of what Judge Howell and the three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit have already reviewed: proof that Trump misled Corcoran and engaged in criminal conduct,” she elaborated.

Rubin went on to note that Trump would likely appeal any conviction to the Supreme Court, writing, “And for someone whose one last hope, if he is ultimately charged or tried by any of the multiple entities now investigating him, is that same Supreme Court, letting the justices see evidence of his alleged crimes now would be a bridge too far.”

“Trump can’t afford to lose the Supreme Court yet,” she suggested.

You can read more here.

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No TX Congressional Republican Will Say If They’re Attending Trump’s Rally in Waco – Will He Have Trouble Filling Seats?

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Donald Trump‘s Saturday campaign rally in Waco, Texas, falls during the 30th anniversary of the 51-day siege that community is known for, when 86 people died after a failed ATF raid on an anti-government religious cult suspected of illegally stockpiling firearms amid allegations of sexual abuse, statutory rape, and polygamy.

Experts have been warning for a week that Trump’s choice of Waco, synonymous with violent anti-government extremism, was no accident. His rhetoric this week, including most recently Friday when he warned of “potential death & destruction” should he be indicted, has been seen as encouraging violence.

NCRM was among the first news outlets to report experts’ concerns over Trump’s choice to hold a rally in Waco during the 30th anniversary of the deadly siege.

Not a single congressional Republican from Texas will say they are attending, nor has the town’s GOP mayor, according to a report from Insider, which contacted over two dozen Republican lawmakers and other elected officials.

“None of the 30 Texas Republicans Insider contacted about the event said they were going,” Insider reveals.

“Most of the 30 GOP members contacted about Donald Trump’s inaugural visit to the site of a 30-year-old standoff between cult leader David Koresh and federal authorities did not respond to requests for comment about whether they intended to rally with the scandal-plagued candidate and perhaps say a few kind words,” Insider reports.

“Rep. Pete Sessions, a Waco native who now represents the surrounding 17th congressional district, praised Trump for shining a light on his hometown but said he’d have to miss the spectacle,” Insider adds. “Aides to Rep. Troy Nehls, one of the four House Republicans from Texas who have formally backed Trump’s 2024 run, told Insider he wouldn’t be heading to Waco because of a prior commitment in Washington, DC, this weekend.”

READ MORE: ‘Utter Cowardice’: Jim Jordan Blasted for Telling Reporter He Can’t Read Trump’s Violence-Threatening Post Without Glasses

Meanwhile, in addition to guest list challenges – the campaign refused to tell Insider who the guest speakers will be – Trump may have trouble filling seats.

Mary Trump, the ex-president’s niece who opposes him, has been running a campaign to get anti-Trump Americans to “sign up” for tickets to the Saturday rally, in the hopes of being able to turn away supporters.

“Donald has a rally in Waco this Saturday,” she also said via Twitter. “It’s a ploy to remind his cult of the infamous Waco siege of 1993, where an anti-government cult battled the FBI. Scores of people died. He wants the same violent chaos to rescue him from justice.”

“But we can stop him. If we book the 50,000+ venue, we can make sure most of the seats are empty when the traitor takes the stage,” she said. “We can no longer fail to hold powerful men accountable for their crimes against our country.”

Image via Shutterstock

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‘Utter Cowardice’: Jim Jordan Blasted for Telling Reporter He Can’t Read Trump’s Violence-Threatening Post Without Glasses

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Countless GOP lawmakers over the years have professed ignorance over Donald Trump’s tweets as reporters ask them to respond, often claiming they hadn’t read them, but House Republican Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan took that performance to a whole new level Friday afternoon.

NBC News senior national political reporter Sahil Kapur asked the Ohio Republican congressman to weigh in on Trump’s social media post threatening “potential death & destruction” if he gets indicted.

“Jordan said he hasn’t seen Trump’s post,” Kapur said via Twitter. “When I showed [it] to him on my phone, he said he can’t read well without his glasses.”

“He added he’s reviewing DA Bragg’s letter,” Kapur added.

READ MORE: ‘Big Shoe Drops’: Bad Day for Trump on Multiple Fronts in Special Counsel’s Grand Jury Probes

Jordan, who didn’t need glasses to appear on Fox Business just two days ago (photo) is getting blowback.

VICE News Deputy DC Bureau Chief Todd Zwillich explained the progression.

“The stages of ignoring incitement,” he tweeted. “2016: I don’t respond to tweets —> 2018: I havent seen the tweet —-> 2023: I literally can’t see the tweet.”

“Utter cowardice,” declared former GOP Congressman Joe Walsh. “Not at all the @Jim_Jordan I knew & served with in Congress 10 yrs ago. Or…maybe it is.”

“The sheer dishonesty and cowardice of these people,” lamented MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan, echoing Walsh’s remarks.

Government watchdog group Citizens for Ethics said the “extent to which Trump’s backers in Congress are going to not condemn [his] calls for violence are ludicrous.”

RELATED: Ninth Wrestler Comes Forward to Say Jordan ‘Snickered’ When He Complained of Sexual Abuse: Report

Some tied Jordan’s inability to see the post to his apparent inability to see or remember all the Ohio State wrestlers who say they complained to Jordan when he was their assistant coach, about being sexually harassed or assaulted by the team doctor. To this day despite numerous reports and people publicly coming forward, Jordan denied it ever happened.

“Apparently, Jim Jordan is unable to see wrestlers being sexually abused or Donald Trump social media posts,” attorney and Republican turned Democrat Ron Filipkowski tweeted.

“Well, @Jim_Jordan has shown before that he has trouble seeing threats right in front of his nose, so this checks out,” tweeted historian Kevin M. Kruse.

But Jordan’s Democratic colleagues on the Judiciary Committee may have served up the best response: “Why do you need your glasses to condemn violence @Jim_Jordan?”

READ MORE: ‘Pits Parents Against Parents’: House Republicans Pass Anti-LGBTQ Florida-Style K-12 ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights’

 

 

 

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